Language Organizations for Faculty

Aiso and Chamberlin Libraries

American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
The American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) is a professional organization of scholars who are interested in and actively contribute to the multi-disciplinary field of applied linguistics.  AAAL members promote principled approaches to language-related concerns, including language education, acquisition and loss, bilingualism, discourse analysis, literacy, rhetoric and stylistics, language for special purposes, psycholinguistics, second and foreign language pedagogy, language assessment, and language policy and planning.

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Langauges (ACTFL)
The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) is the only national organization dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction.  ACTFL is an individual membership organization of more than 12,000 foreign language educators and administrators from elementary though graduate education, as well as government and industry.

Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
The Center for Applied Linguistics is dedicated to providing a comprehensive range of research-based information, tools, and resources related to language and culture. CAL is a private, nonprofit organization working to improve communication through better understanding of language and culture. Established in 1959, CAL is headquartered in Washington, DC.   See additional organization links here.

Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR)
The Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) is an unfunded Federal interagency organization established for the coordination and sharing of information about language-related activities at the Federal level.  It serves as the premier way for departments and agencies of the Federal government to keep abreast of the progress and implementation of techniques and technology for language learning, language use, language testing and other language-related activities.

Language Resource Centers (LRCs)   15 centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education
In 1990, the Department of Education established the first Language Resource Centers (LRCs) at US universities in response to the growing national need for expertise and competence in foreign languages. Twenty years later, there are fifteen LRCs, supported by grants under Title VI of the Higher Education Act, creating a national network of resources to promote the teaching and learning of foreign languages.
Led by nationally and internationally recognized language professionals, LRCs create language learning and teaching materials, offer professional development opportunities for teachers and instructors, and conduct research on foreign language learning.

Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER)
Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS)
University of Oregon, Eugene

Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language, and Literacy (CERCLL)
University of Arizona, Tuscon

Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeCLAR)
Indiana University, Bloomington

Center for Language Education and Research (CLEAR)
Michigan State University, East Lansing

Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL)
University of Texas, Austin

Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC)
San Diego State University

National African Language Resource Center (NALRC)
University of Wisconsin, Madison

National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC)
Washington, D.C.  A joint project of Georgetown University (GU), The George Washington University (GWU), and the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL).

National East Asian Languages Resource Center (NEALRC)
Ohio State University, Columbus 

National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)
University of Hawai'i at Manoa

National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC)
University of California, Los Angeles

National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC)
Brigham Young University

Slavic and East European Language Research Center (SEELRC)
Duke University

National Foreign Language Center (NFLC)
The National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) is dedicated to promoting a language-competent society by developing and disseminating information that informs policy makers. The mission of the NFLC is to improve the capacity of the U.S. to communicate in languages other than English. We implement that mission through intensive and innovative strategic planning and development with globalized institutions, organizations, and enterprises throughout the United States.

South Asia Language Resource Center (SALRC)
South Asia is one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world with four language families comprised of more than 650 individual languages. Apart from the languages that rank in the top ten numbers of speakers worldwide - Hindi ranked second and Bengali sixth - many of the so-called minority languages are spoken by significantly greater numbers of people than more well-known and more-widely taught European languages. Because of this astonishing linguistic diversity, no single U.S. university has the resources to address the demand for expertise. SALRC is structured to assist in meeting this pressing need.

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL)
Incorporated in 1966, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL), is a global association for English language teaching professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. TESOL's mission is to develop and maintain professional expertise in English language teaching and learning for speakers of other languages worldwide.